This is the same plan as MH370 – Grab the plane but did not think what to do next and same here grab the pastor and do not know what to do with him. Like MH370 the heat is very unbearable to admit in the first place that it was a sanction operation because did not come clean when the pastor first disappeared.
INSTEAD OF ‘SANDIWARA’, WHY NOT COME CLEAN TO HIS FAMILY – PUTRAJAYA FINALLY AGREES TO SEE THE KOHS
PETALING JAYA – Today marks 100 days since the abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh, with police no closer to solving the case.
On the morning of Feb 13, the 62-year-old was abducted by a group of masked men less than 100m from a police housing complex in SS4, Kelana Jaya. Video footage from CCTVs in the area showed seven vehicles, including three black four-wheel drive vehicles, forcing his car to a stop in the middle of the road.
The drivers then used their vehicles to box in Koh’s car and prevent him from driving off.
A few of the masked men are seen swarming Koh’s car while their accomplices, including at least two on motorcycles, ensured no onlookers intervened.
Less than a minute later, Koh is apparently overpowered and his car bearing registration plate ST5515D is seen being driven away, with the other abductors following hurriedly.
A hundred days on, Koh’s family, his church members, the general public and even the police remain in the dark as to his whereabouts or even who his abductors were.
The police set up a special task force to investigate the abduction but Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said investigations were being hindered by media coverage.
When contacted by theSun, Selangor Criminal Investigation Department chief SAC Fadzil Ahmat, who heads the task force, said police are working hard on the case. However, he declined to elaborate.
The fact that Koh has been missing for 100 days is a worrying situation for Malaysians, said Parit Buntar MP Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa.
“This begs the question of our (country’s) security. For a person to be kidnapped in broad daylight and the police having yet to find a single clue on his disappearance to this day is a bit worrying. Surely, by now police must know what happened to him,” he said.
In March, what seemed like a credible lead emerged when a taxi driver was arrested by police in connection with the abduction.
However, the suspect was found to be trying to blackmail the pastor’s family and was not involved in the incident.
To date, there has been no ransom demand for Koh’s release. His family have offered a RM100,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.
It was reported that Koh and his non-governmental organisation, Haparan Komuniti, were accused of proselytising Muslims, following a raid by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department at a Thanksgiving dinner in 2011.
Thousands of Malaysians gathered for candlelight vigils all over the country in the months since his abduction.
“Since he was taken away from us, my children and I have swung between feelings of numbness, despair, hope, sadness, fear and anger,” said his wife, Susanna Liew.
Compounding this is the frustration that there has been no significant breakthrough in efforts to find him, she added.
More vigils have been planned until Koh’s return as the whole nation is hoping and praying that he will be found safe.
After 100 days, Putrajaya agrees to meet Pastor Koh’s family
MEANWHILE, according to The Malaysian Insight:
NATIONAL Unity and Integration Minister Joseph Kurup has agreed to meet the family of Pastor Raymond Koh who disappeared more than three months ago – breaking Putrajaya’s silence on the case after pressure by Christian and civil society groups.
The meeting will include Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) general-secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri, who had earlier complained about Putrajaya’s silence on the pastor’s disappearance despite taking their concerns to Kurup earlier.
Kurup told The Malaysian Insight that he will issue a statement after listening to the grouses from Koh’s family and CCM.
“I would like to meet the family as well as members of the Council of Churches Malaysia. I urge them to make an appointment with my office to discuss their concerns,” Kurup told The Malaysian Insight.
He was commenting on a report last week where the church and civil society groups slammed Putrajaya on its deafening silence on the abducted pastor.
The report stated that Putrajaya had not responded to a letter from the World Council of Churches, nor did it get back to CCM after the Christian body took its concerns to Kurup.
Instead, police have called up three civil society activists to explain statements they made linking Koh and three others who went missing more than six months ago, with “enforced disappearances”.
Engage spokesman Thomas Fann, Suaram’s Sevan Doraisamy and Bersih’s Rama Ramanathan have been told to present themselves at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman tomorrow.
The trio are part of the Citizen Action Group on Enforced Disappearance (Caged) formed earlier this month to find answers on the disappearance of the four activists. They will be represented by lawyer cum human rights advocate Ambiga Sreenevasan who is also a member of Caged.
Caged has sent a report on Koh’s disappearance to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID).
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance or enforced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organisation or by a third party with the authorisation, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organisation.
Sevan, who has been assisting the family, said that it has been 100 days and there is still no response on the pastor’s disappearance from the authorities.
“We want to reinstate that the family are seeking answers and will continue to support and assist them.”
Koh’s abduction had also prompted a response from the international community of churches.
In an open letter dated March 7 to Prime Minister Najib Razak, Secretary-General of the World Council of Churches Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, said he was “gravely concerned” over the events surrounding the abduction.
The WCC represents a global fellowship of more than 340 churches from some 110 countries.
Koh was abducted from his car in Petaling Jaya on February 13 by 15 men in three black SUVs. The kidnapping, which took place in broad daylight, appeared to have been well coordinated.
Joshua Hilmy, a pastor of Malay descent, and his wife Ruth, went missing on November 30 last year while Amir Che Mat went missing on the night of November 24 last year after he told his eldest daughter that he was going out. – May 23, 2017.
– Sundaily / The Malaysian Insight
